Refrigerating apparatus



Oct. 4, 1932. E. s. H. BAARS 1,880,653

'REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 4. 1931 I N VEN TOR.

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A TTORNE Y.

ERNST S. H. 1B

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OE MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO THE VIIDTJER- U- FACT'UEING COMPANY, OF WAUKEJE, WISCONSIN, A COORATION F WISCQNSIN j BEFRIGEBATING APPARATUS Application filed September 1, 1931. Serial no. asi es.

The present invention relates in general to improvements in the art of refrigeration, and relates more specifically to improvements H! the construction and operation of control 5 mechanisms for regulating the delivery oi liquid refrigerant to the evaporator or cooling coils of a refrigerating system.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved regulating valve which is simple and compact in construction, and which is v moreover highly eficient in operation.

It has heretofore been proposed as shown trol valve, is dependent upon the level of liquid refrigerant in an accumulator which communicates-with the inlet and discharge of the evaporator, and improved regulation is effected by virtue of the fact that the operation of the flow controlvalve is'not directly dependent upon the extreme variations 1 of conditions in the evaporator. While this priordevice is relatively reliable and edective under most conditions of operation,:.it will not function to prevent sudden overfeeding and consequent undesirable disturbances in low temperature; systems under certain abnormal and unusual-conditions of opera;

tion'. 85 .It is therefore a more specific object of the present invention to provide an im roved regulating valve which is especially a apted for use incconjunction with a float operated flowv control valve for liquid refrigerant, and 40 which will improve the operation and effecin a refrigeration-system by accurately and sensitively controlling the flow of refrigerant to the evaporator or cooling coils.

A further specific object of the invention is to provide an improved pressure controlled I regulating'valve which will insure uniform delivery of liquid such as refrigerant from a source of supply to a point of utilization. 4 These and other objects and advantages will be apparent from theedollowing description.

bodiment of the invention, and of the con,- struction and operation of regulating valves builtin accordance with the improvement, maybe had by referring to the drawing ac- A clear conception of one practical emcomp'anying and forming a part of this specification in which like reference characters various views: v

- Fig. 1 is adiagram of a typical refrigeration' system having one of the improved regulating valves applied therein; and v I Fig. 2 is an enlarged'centralvertical'section through one of the improved valves.

matically illustrated in Fig. 1-,comprises in general a pum or compressor 5, a condenser 6, a receiver a float actuated valve 8, a flow regulating valve 9, an accumulator 10, an evaporator or cooling coil 11, and suitable valve controlled connections between these several elements of the system.

' Tlie suction line-1210f the compressor- 5 communicates with the upper gas collectingv chamber of the accumulator 9, and has a. shut-01f valve 13, therein, and the discharge designate the same 'or, similar parts in the The typical refrigeration system diagramline 14'of the compressor. 5 communicates with the inlet end of the condenser 6. The rdischargeend of the'condenser 6 may comtiveness of such flow control valves especially .mnnicate' with a receiver '7 and .a by-pass Y in low temperature systems. 1

P p 1 h ving a needle valve. 16 therein may be provided between'the compressor discharge line 14 and the needle controlled orifiee 17 of the float valve'8. 'erever pose sible, the direct connection from the compressor discharge line 14 to the float valve 8 should be eliminated in fayor of a pipe 18 having a control valve 19 therein and connecting the upper portion of the receiver 7 with the pipe and the floatvalve 8. The pipe 15 is also connected to the displacement chamber 20 of the regulating valve 9, by means of a pipe 21. The lowermost portion of the receiver 7 or of the condenser 6, may

. be connected to the inlet side of the automatic regulating valve 9 by means of a pipe 22, and the discharge side of the valve 9 is connected to the accumulator '10 below the normal liquid level. therein, by means of a pipe 23 having a manually controlled regulating 'valve 24 therein. The cooling coil 11 has its inlet and discharge ends connected with the v accumulator 10, respectively below and above the normal liquid level in the accumulator, by means of pipes 25, 26, and the float chamber 27 of the float actuated valve 8 is connected to the accumulator 10 by means of liquid and gas connections 28, 29 respectively.

The automatic regulating vvalve 9 which controls the delivery of liquid refrigerant from the pipe 22 to the pipe 23, is of special construction as shown in Fig. 2. The casing 30 of the valve 9 is provided with a valve seat.

.31 with which a disk valve 32 is cooperable to control the flow past the seat. The disk valve 32 coacts with the upper end of the stem 33 ofa plunger 34 which is slidable in the bore of a cap 35 by means of a spring 36.

.- This spring 36 coacting with the cap 35 and with the plunger 34, cooperates with the liquid pressure within the pipe 22, to urge the disk valve 32 away from its seat 31, at all times. A piston 37 or equivalent is movable within the displacement chamber 20 formed in the upper removable section of the valve 9 by gas under pressure admitted through the pipe 21, and has a piston rod 38 which coacts with a socket formed'in the upper portion of the disk valve 32. When the gas pressure withinthe displacement chamber 20 and acting upon the piston 37is sufiicient-to overcome the combinedv spring 1 and liquid pressure acting upon the smaller-plunger 34, the poppet valve 32will be forced into contact with the seat 31 and will prevent the passage of refrigerant from the receiver 7 to theaccumulator 10. As the gas pressure acting upon the piston 37 decreases, the valve 9 may be opened to produce a flow of refrigeranttherethrough which. is dependent upon the gas pressure in the system.

The float actuated control valve 8 of the present system functions somewhat differently from the similarcontrol valve disclosed in the'above-mentioned copending application.

I In the present system the. valve 8 merely serves-toestablish agas pressure within the lines 15 and 21 by admitting gas under pressure from the discharge line 14 of the compressor 5, or fromthe upper portion of the receiver 7, to the displacement chamber 20 of the automatic regulating valve 9. The admission of this gas to the regulating valve 9 is controlled by the level of the liquid in the accumulator 10 which liquid acts through the pipe 28 to establish the same leyel Within the float chamber 27. As the liquid level within the accumulator 10 varies, the position of the float 39 within the chamber 27 is.

simultaneously varied to permit the flow of variable quantities of gaseous refrigerant under pressure through the valve port 17, chamber 27 and pipe 29 to the gas chamber of the accumulator 10, thereby establishing the desired gas pressure in the pipes 15, 21.

The accumulator 10 .is moreover provided with an improved oil blow-off comprising a reservoir 40'located in a warmroom and connected to the lower portionof the'accumulator 10 by means of a pipe 41 having a valve 42 therein. The lower portion of the reser voir 40 is provided with a discharge pipe 43 having a valve 44 therein. When sufiicient oil or other objectionable fluid has collected.

Within the lower end of the accumulator 10,

the valve-42 may be opened while the valve 44 is closed. The objectionable liquid will then pass into the receiver 40, whereupon the valve 44 may be opened and the valve 42 maybe closed either partially or completely. The objectionableliquid may thus be Withdrawn from the system without interfering with the normal operation of the latter.

During normal operation of the improved refrigerating system, the valve 13 is open and the compressor 5 is operating to withdraw gaseous refrigerant from the upper portion of the accumulator 10 through the suction line 12, and is compressing the gas then flow through the pipe 15 to the float actuated valve '8 and to thedispl'acement chamber 20 of the regulatingvalve 9. If'the pressure within the displacement chamber 20 is not sufficient to maintain the'disk valve 32 in closed position, liquid refrigerant-will flow from the receiver 7 through the pipe22,

valves 9, 24- and pipe 23 to the accumulator 10 and will tend to raise the level of theliquid refrigerant in'the accumulator 10. The ristoo tion of the system. Gas under pressure will ing liquid within the accumulator '10 will cause the float 39 to be elevated and will eventually closethe port 17 and stop the flow of gas from the pipe 15 to the accumulator 10 through thepipe 29. This stoppage of the flow of gas will cause the pressure within the pipe 15 to rise and will therefore increase the 1 pressure Within the chamber and will i I cause the disk valve 32 to close and stop the further flow of liquid refrigerant to the accumulator 10.

The liquid refrigerant from the accumulator 10 enters the evaporator or' coil 11 by gravity and is converted into gas which is discharged through the pipe 26 to the gas space in the upper portion of the accumulator. The continued absorption of liquid refrigerant will eventually cause the liquid level Within the accumulator 10 to drop to such an extent that the float 39 will act to open the needle valve 8, thereby reducing the gas pressure in the pipe 15 and causing the disk valve 32 of the regulating valve 9 to open. The manually controlled regulating valve 24 in the pipe 23 may be manipulated to pass the de sired quantity of refrigerant for proper operation. If it is possible to utilize gas under pressure from the upper portion of the receiver 7 for proper operation of the system, then the needle valve 16 should be closed and the valve 19 opened to permit operation of the system in a manner similar to that just described. The valves 16 or 19 will only be open slightly because an excessive loss of high pressure gas into the accumulator must.- be avoided.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the improved automatic regulating valve 9 automatically functions to permit delivery of regulated quantities-of liquid refrigerant to the evaporators, while preventing undesirable sudden rushes of liquid refrigerant to the cooling coils. The liquid refrigerant is eflectively delivered to the accumulator in accurately regulated amounts dependent upon the liquid level in the accumulator and the gas supply Within the pipe 15, which may be readily varied to suit any desired condition by manipulating the valves 16 or 19 and by varying the buoyancy of the float 39. This buoyancy may be varied as described in the copending application herein referred to, by adjusting a weight associated with the lever which pivotally supports the float. The receiver 40 provides simple and eficient means for relieving the system of undesirable heavy liquids. The entire system may be made inoperative by merely closing the valve 13 and stopping the compressor 5. Any number of evaporators or cooling coils 11 may be associated with the pipes 25, 26 and the improved valves are especially applicable to low temperature refrigerating systems where oil will congeal under all circumstances. While the improved automatic valve 9 has been shown and described herein as being applied to a system utilizing a special form of float valve 8, it will be apparent that the valve 9 is also adapted for use in conjunction with other systems and valves such as shown and described in the said copending application.

It should be understood that it is not 'desired to limit the invention to the exact details of construction herein shown and described, for various modifications such as the substitution of a diaphragm or metal bellows for the piston 37, may occur to persons skilled 2. In a refrigerating system, an acculnulator, a source of refrigerant supply, a valve operable by gas pressure in said source to control the delivery of liquid refrigerant to said accumulator, and a valve operableby the level of the liquid in said accumulator to control the operation of said gas operable valve.

z 3. In a refrigerating system, an evaporator, an accumulator for delivering liquid refrigerant to said evaporator and for receiving gaseous refrigerant therefrom, a pressure operated valve for controlling the delivery of liquid refrigerant to said accumulator, and a float controlled valve operable by the liquid level in said accumulator to control the-pressure for operating said first mentioned valve.

4. In a refrigerating system, an evaporator, a source of supply for refrigerant under pressure, a valve operable by the pressure in I said source to control the delivery of liquid refrigerant from said source to said evaporator, and means operable by the level of the liquid at said evaporator to vary the pressure for operating said first mentioned valve.

5. In a refrigerating system, an evaporator, an accumulator associated with said evaporator, a source of supply of refrigerant under pressure, a valve operable by pressure derived from said source for controlling the delivery of liquid refrigerant from said source to said accumulator, and a second valve operable by the level of liquid in said accumu lator for controlling the operation of said first mentioned valve 6. In a refrigerating system, an evaporator, an accumulator associated with said evaporator, a receiver for refrigerant under pressure, a regulating valve for delivering liquid refrigerant from said receiver to said accumulator, and a float actuated valve operable by variations in the level of liquid refrigerant in said accumulator for controlling the operation of said regulating valve.

7. In a refrigerating system, an accumulator, a receiver, a regulating valve for controlling the delivery of liquid refrigerant under pressure from said receiver to said accumulator, and a float actuated valve controlled by the liquid level in said accumulator for varying the gas pressure acting upon said regulating valve to control said delivery of liquid refrigerant. Y

1 8. Ina-refrigerating system,- an accumulator, a gas pressure operated regulating valve for delivering liquid refrigerant to said accumulator, and afloat actuated valve a operableby variations in liquid refrigerant level in the system for controlling the pressure-for actuating said regulating valve.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature. ERNST S H. BA'ARS. 

